SIMON PEGG: I Want To Be a Good Man For My Daughter

0:00As a kid, you are processing the idea that your father would rather be somewhere else than with you. And going in to my mum in the morning and just saying, where's dad? And I remember that day, and I was six probably. It stamps itself on your subconscious. It does. And that is what abandonment is. Fatherhood is a big thing we really don't talk about. There is no instruction manual, you know. What I tried to do for Tilly was just, I tried to be the best man I could be. Explain that to me in what ways. Hi, I'm Simon Pegg and I'm in great company. Have you never taken a shortcut before? Simon Pegg, everybody!

0:34Edgar Wright swore blind that a strawberry Cornetto was the ultimate hangover cure. Do you want anything from the shop? Cornetto. At the Shaun of the Dead premiere, we had free Cornettos. Me and Edgar and Nick were like, this is amazing, we got free ice cream, this is so cool. We should put one in the next film in case we get free ice cream again. It was sheer, sheer just hoping we could get free ice cream. The question that people always say to you is, why don't you make another show? Why don't you go make another Hot Fuzz? But not everything needs a sequel. Some stories just end. I just disagree.

1:04I just feel like Hot Fuzz does. I think Hot Fuzz we could probably do. Math. I have a game that I want to play with you. Go on. How good at improv are you? Pretty good. Okay, well, shall I set a scene? We're dating. You're meeting me in the pub. And you're here to break up with me. But I think you're going to propose to me. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Hey, listen, thanks for coming.

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4:20I'm beyond excited. I can't. It's, you know, it's because I've watched you growing up, right? And loved your movies. Then sitting with you and interviewing you and chatting to you. It's kind of a weird, like, weird sort of moment for me, I suppose. I get that a lot these days of people saying, I grew up watching you and it makes me realize how old I am. Yeah, but I wouldn't think you're old, though, in that way. No, but it makes me realize how long I've been working, you know, 30 years. So, you know, there are kids out there that literally started watching me as tiny children. It's weird. Yeah, but do you not also think that that's so great?

5:04What a great thing for your career, the fact that you can work this long. Yeah, I suppose so. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because when you start out, it's one of those things that you kind of want to have, where you want to have that career where you can just keep going and going and going. Yeah. But you kind of, I guess you sort of, you, you, you never really stop and kind of look back down the road and realize just how you just keep going and going and going. And then suddenly you're meeting, what's nice is meeting young people who weren't born when say Shaun of the Dead came out, who, who liked the movie, you know, it's, that's, that's the best you can hope for.

5:37Can you make me feel better then? Because I think in this end, you're going to help, you're going to validate me now. So in this industry, right? The entertainment industry, you're always searching for the next thing, always looking for the next thing, always wanting the next thing. But even someone in your position, in your career, the things that you've done, are you always thinking what's next? What's more? What else can you, or are you sort of content? I think it's a bit of both. I mean, like when I started out, I never had like a plan. I never, I never, when we were saying, uh, making space to say, I never thought, okay, in five years, I want to be doing this or I want to be doing that.

6:11You just sort of, everything kind of comes at you over the horizon and you tackle it as it arrives. So at this stage in my career, at 56, I'm thinking, what do I want to do in the back half? And I'm a little bit more considered about that now, I think, because I've only got so much time left. And I don't want to go and join another film franchise, say, and be attached to that for 20 years because I'll be 76 when I finish. That's just like weird. So isn't life fucking weird? Yeah. Like I'm 37. Like where did that, I have a kid. One thing that I've realized as a parent though is my daughter's 17 now and you'll realize this when yours get to that age is that the time you spend with them is tiny.

7:06you know they suddenly they're adults it happens so quickly my daughter's entire life is on my phone she was born in 2009 a year after the first iphone yeah so i have i can scroll through her entire life and now she's going to go to university next year and she's going to leave home and it's it's a whack in the face it really is you have tilly right tilly's 17 i have ziggy who ziggy is seven months old now. You're in the trenches. Simon. Do this. I need to talk. Okay. I'm going to pin that for a second. But I'm in the trenches, man. He doesn't sleep. He doesn't really know what he's doing. I'm lying in bed.

7:52He had to come into our bed last night because he's crying. He doesn't know that I'm interviewing you. I know. I'm trying to not do that. But my wife is like, he likes it more. I'm like, I know. But that means we're not going to connect anymore. And also he's going to want to stay there. Yeah. But then there'll be a time when you're, you're begging him to come and get into bed with you because, you know, there's a, there's a day when, and you don't know it, but there is a day that's the last day you'll ever pick him up. You know, you'll ever carry him anywhere as the day, the last day he'll ever come into bed with you.

8:24And those moments that they, they, they, they sort of come and go and you don't realize, then you're like, wait a minute, I can't pick you up anymore. You're too big, you know. It's weird for dads as well. I'd say... Because they feel like a Tamagotchi. Yeah. Yeah, you've got to keep them alive. That's what you're doing right now. Yeah, but also, it's like mine. It's like, you're not a human. You belong. It's mine. I can do... Yeah, and they're part of you. Yeah. I found it very profound the first time I looked at her and saw my face in her. You know, that was weird. The realization that I had another heart beating in the world, you know.

9:01that that was really profound but i think for you at this stage all you can do for this first year is be supportive of your wife that's the sexiest thing you can do you don't have a connection with the baby like mom does you know so you're kind of trying to find your place what do i do what am i for you've kind of been deposed slightly because you're not the most you know important person in her life anymore. But all you can do is just be there, say yes all the time, be super supportive. And at some point he'll look at you and he'll go, oh, that's dad. And he'll smile and then you'll suddenly feel it.

9:40But I think a lot of dads feel a little bit at sea for the first year. But dads don't talk about this. No, men don't talk about anything. Apart from video games. We don't talk about anything. No, I know. It's like a big issue. I don't even know that. It's a huge issue. It's a huge issue. Yeah. And fatherhood is a big thing we really don't talk about. I don't think. And I'm, and I'm trying to work out why we don't. And I think it's because I think we're scared of a reaction from our partner. I think we're scared of reaction from our friends, our family. I think we try and fool ourselves and lie to ourselves because we don't really want to be different.

10:13But the truth is, and my experience is you have this thing that you hold that is yours and your wife gives birth and you hold it and you're straight away meant to love it. You're meant to have a connection straight away and you've and in my experience you feel protective a very yeah hugely but it's it's a thing that you have to learn to know and understand no one explains that to you no one no there's no rule book did you have that moment when we got back from the hospital and and and sort of put her down in her little car chair and it was like all right so what now it's like what do we do now nobody there is no instruction manual you know every baby is a is a new thing it's very odd to think i don't know this person this person who has just come out of my wife i i don't know them and then and you get to know them and i mean it's a brilliant brilliant the best thing you can do is what i tried to do for tilly was just i tried to be the best man i could be because i'm you know children tend to look for elements of their parents in their partners right so it's the same the same for you you try and be the best man you can be so that when they go on to meet people they look for those attributes in other people and i just wanted to make sure that i set an example for tilly so that she would look for those those kind of um attributes in and her boyfriend now max is a lovely guy he's super super cool and i think good i've she's not looking for i was worried at first because she always you know fancied the bad guy and things like draco malfoy was a favorite in harry potter you know it was these weird kind of like slightly dark kind of characters that she was gravitating towards oh no don't go for that so for you it's about showing him what it means to be a bloke you know a good bloke Yeah.

12:14They say, especially with daughters, that if a daughter knows they're loved by their father, they can love themselves. Yes. And so then they don't need the validation from other people. Exactly. They don't have to go seeking it. If it comes to them, they're like, okay, this is good. I deserve this. It's fine. That's very true. And I think you're right because my parents divorced. Your parents divorced around seven years old, right? Mine around the same age. And I think that sets you up in not a great fashion. That abandonment comes in. Yeah. And that's at a time when your core beliefs are being established.

12:53You know, your attitude towards so many things are built between 7 and 14. And then they stay. They're almost immutable. And you have to really go back into your psychology to kind of undo some of the damage that gets done to you as a kid. Yeah. Because otherwise you carry it forward. So what happened when your parents divorced? What do you think that did to you? Well, it was fairly amicable as far as I can remember. But nevertheless, as a kid, you are processing the idea that your father usually would rather be somewhere else than with you. And that is what abandonment is. Because no matter what the reason, and marry young, and you change as you get older, and they're all kind of reasonable reasons to separate.

13:41But as a child, you just perceive it as, oh, you don't want to be with me anymore. And you carry that. And as much as both parents can say, look, it's not like that. That's not why this happened. You still feel that way. It's hard. It's really hard. And also, I don't know with your experience, but my experience with it was, I remember the day my parents came and said they're getting divorced. right and i almost had that way i didn't want to laugh because i felt so awkward yeah because i was like this is weird what i don't really get what's going on here but then that happens then you go out and play again it just it it yeah you just continue life right meanwhile cognitively you're making all these kind of like connections i i i remember the day we were suddenly staying i don't remember getting there but i remember being at my nan's house and going into my mom in the morning and just saying where's dad and her saying oh um he's gonna go he's gone away for a while you know and i remember that day and i was six probably so it it stamps itself on your it does subconscious i can i can see the room that i was in yeah me too which is like that that's the crazy thing about like childhood right i can remember so many things i can remember the room i can remember this first goal I scored in football.

15:02Yeah, me too. It really dribbled in. It was a terrible goal, but I scored. Mine was from the corner. Wow. Unbelievable. Really? I was five. I can't remember what I did yesterday. You just pulled it in. You just went in. But why do we think those things imprint on us? Is it because it's our first experience or something? Yeah. And it's because obviously our brain is doing a lot more than just perceiving reality. You know, our brain is very busy beyond just our subjective experience. It's kind of, it's logging stuff and recording things and shaping our attitudes. And that, that we don't have any control over that, how our emotions are affected, you know, they just are.

15:45So how did you think with Tilly, how did you want to parent different? Do you think? Well, I wanted to stick around for starters. It's a good starting point. so you know maureen and i my wife and i we work hard you know because marriage is a marriage isn't a fairy tale it's a it's an agreement that you make and you can no one tells you that as well no it goes all the disney movies yeah right you're led to believe it's some sort of like okay we're like dolphins or swans or whatever we just but you you have to you have to kind of mate happily yeah yeah happily ever after you know that's what it is so you you you you meet an obstacle and you either give up or you carry on, you know?

16:23And we both really wanted to be there for her. So anytime we run into sort of, you know, trouble or whatever, or just disagreement or whatever, it's like, no, we're going to keep going. And so for me, it was just about making sure that she felt loved at all times and able to speak to us. And, you know, I just tried to think about, my dad was a great guy. I understand his foibles and I understand everything that happened. But what I didn't want to do was what he did. Because I knew the damage that that inflicted upon me. So I just wanted to kind of just be as cool as possible. It's not easy because I'm not.

17:09I'm just a person. but you you you want to be you want to be the best person you can be and have your thing with like my thing with tills is is movies like we we bonded over movies since she was very small and that's our little place where we go every saturday we watch a film and uh every saturday yeah and that's like i mean she's seen more films than most people my age let alone her age and that that's been our our kind of our little bonding space that's a good thing to have is something you can have just with him yeah so any movie do you start in a decade or a year or type or genre we started like when until she was about nine we were watching films that were age appropriate sure so it wasn't fight club no now that's one of her favorite films it's a great film um but and then at nine i accidentally showed her it uh because i thought it was like stranger of things oh yeah it's little kids like fighting monsters it'll be fine no she slept with the light on for three weeks and then after that she was she sort of emerged from that cocoon of trauma like i want to watch more so then now we've watched every horror film like really nasty ones as well okay so so like uh the train to busan oh she loves that movie it's a great movie yeah i'm a huge horror movie fan are you me too i've been recently trying to work out why that is and i think it's because it makes me feel something.

18:34Yeah, of course. Makes me feel like... Weirdly, I like feeling emotions, right? I like it when I get emotional, right? I like it. Yeah, you feel alive. I feel alive. I like feeling happy. But I can feel those emotions quite a lot. Feeling scared is like a rare emotion. You don't really feel scared. You don't want to feel that in the real world. No, you really don't. So like, that's why horror films and roller coasters are great because they let you rehearse fear without having any real danger, you know? And so for me, I'm... I actually said to, we went to see Weapons. So good. So good. Yeah. And I was like, we were walking in and I was like, you know, I'm really, I'm always looking for the next scare, you know, Tilly, because I'm unscarable these days.

19:16I've seen everything. Cut to in the cinema. There was one jump scare in Weapons and I literally screamed out loud. And the whole of the crowd just looked at me. And Tilly just gave me the most withering look. I walked in there all jack the biscuit like, you can't scare me.

19:34Have you recently watched Obsession? Yes. That is. And what I love about Obsession is, I think it cost a million to make. No,$750 ,000. $750 ,000 and it's grossed. It's the highest grossing. It's the first movie to do that. Cost that much and gross over$100 million, right? Yeah. And I think it's one of the most successful movies ever in terms of its gross and its budget. I've been watching Curry Barker for a while on YouTube because he has loads of horror shorts on YouTube. and I've kind of been following him and then I saw that he'd got a feature film and was kind of like, oh, this should be good.

20:06But no, it was masterful. You know, and I watched that. I was like, I'm going to watch this little YouTube film. And I sat downstairs. It scared the shit out of me. Yeah, it's great. The boy would have to... I had to sort of stop it, right? Yeah, yeah. And I had to go upstairs to my wife who was in bed and I was a bit like... I had to spoon her. And you know... And she was like, you all right? I was like, not really. We watched it on, well, I went to the cinema and then on Tilly's birthday, me and her and her boyfriend watched it. And then she just trolled him for the rest of the night. It was like standing in the corner.

20:46I go, why don't you love me? And he hates horror films. What do you think makes a good horror movie? I think it has to appeal to our core fears. You know, things that, I mean, basically, our fear human fear is basically not knowing the unknown so it starts off with what was in the back of that cave you know like primitive people looking into the back of a cave and not knowing if there's a bear in there you know we still have that fear in our DNA and so it's tapping into those kind of things just the unknown and ultimately the extension of that is death our ultimate fear is death and the big thing that we fear about death is we don't know anything about it you know we don't know what it is or why it is all those things it's very primal and so all fear stems from that and that's what good horror filmmakers tap into are you scared of death i'm scared of dying i'm not scared of death you know i don't you you try not to kind of think about it too much i don't think but i i'm very i'm an atheist so i feel like it's fine it's gonna i'm not gonna know it's like people say what happens after death and you know what happened before you were born it's the same you just didn't exist you know that's that's what happens you become you you dissolve into atoms and you become something else you'll be a tree or a i i i agree with you and not and annoyingly so i i don't like the fact that i agree with you because i want to feel like you know we're friends now yeah this great friendship that we have this can't end here this has gotta fold into more we gotta you know we can't just but we put so much importance on our subjective experience like the reason we think we have a soul is because we can't quite comprehend the idea that our personality our subjective experience which is just info that's all it is it's just memories from over time you know that that must be more important that must live in some other form it must be like a floating bubble or a bit of smoke it isn't it's just mental pollution from our subjective experience and mental pollution yeah that's kind of what i was reading noah yuval harari and he was talking about the fact that human beings are so strange because we have this this this subjective experience that we we can uh interpret and sort of we can imagine things, we can do all these incredible things.

23:20And he was sort of saying that our brains are so complex that all the processes that we use all the time and the way that we perceive reality, our personalities are just pollution from that. It's just something that happens. And it's kind of bizarre because we're the only animal on the planet that does that. and really the only animal on the planet that doesn't live in total harmony with its surroundings, you know. And it makes me think that maybe humans were a mistake. Like a kind of - A glitch. Like an aberration. Because like, I have no doubt, you know, in the billions of solar systems, galaxies that exist, there are loads and loads of, there's so much life out there.

24:04You think there is? But not necessarily intelligent life in the way that we think intelligent life. Yeah. We're so self-important as human beings. We think our ability to build things is important. It's not. It's just self-serving. Whereas if you imagine a planet with just animals on it that don't have subjective experience, that only have sort of emotional reactive experience, those planets will last for billions and billions of years because it all works as one organism. Whereas we kind of don't. We're actively affecting our own planet, you know, by our actions, which doesn't really make sense when you look at the sort of cosmic plan.

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26:14I heard you talk about something really interesting, right? Which is Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, these like, just, I mean, just goes on, right? And the question that people always say to you is, why don't you make another Shaun of the Dead? Why don't you go make another Hot Fuzz? And what I love is that you go, well, that's the obvious thing to do, right? That's comfort. and actually the best bit of art is when you're in a place where you don't quite know if it's good or bad living in comfort is kind of safe that's what everyone does and you never want to do that you it feels like you want to always be looking and trying and doing different things yeah we i mean the human beings generally will take the path of least resistance you know and and what we and what the market has has drilled in recently is familiarity it's just like okay people want to see the same thing again so let's do lots of sequels and lots of prequels and remake animations into live actions just because people want to people want familiarity when what we really need is is is newness you know and for me like with the cornetto movies it's like some stories end you know shawn of the dead ends if to make a sequel we'd have to undo all the resolution that takes place at the end yeah but then it's like if you then if you go back and watch shawn of the Dead, then you're like, okay, but he's going to have to have this other adventure.

27:30Some films lend themselves to it. You know, the Marvel films or Mission Impossible or stuff. Because they're ongoing adventures about people that get into adventures. Shaun of the Dead is not. It's about an electrical sales clerk, you know, and he doesn't have adventures. He has one big adventure and that's it, you know? And I think that I sometimes find that sequels can retroactively spoil their predecessors. Alien is a great example because in Alien 3, the beginning of Alien 3, I'll try not to spoil it for people that haven't seen it, but it somewhat undoes a lot of the stakes and the achievements of Ripley in Aliens.

28:13So when you watch Aliens again, you're just thinking, oh, I don't bother. Because I'm not in it now because it's just like, yeah, it's going back. Those people are going to die. So why save them? So then what is your take on James Bond? Well, he's the secret agent, so he is going to have adventures for his entire life. And so there are chapters that we can dip into. Some things necessitate sequelization. And I'm not saying sequels are bad, but not everything needs a sequel. Some stories just end. I just disagree. I just feel like Hot Fuzz does. I think Hot Fuzz we could probably do. I probably could go around the room here and in most rooms, especially within the UK, and say, give me your top 10 movies.

28:57I reckon a lot of people, Shaun of the Dead will be up there, Hot Fuzz will be up there. And I'm not even kidding you. People like to go, yeah, we got Fight Club or Shawshank Redemption. Hell no. Are you kidding me? And to have that sort of body of work, you must feel like insanely proud of doing that. I do. I'm really happy that we made three movies because we never made a third series of space and we always kind of wanted to, but it was time and circumstance just worked against us in that. And also we made Sean and that changed everything. So to finish like a trilogy of films all about a kind of, you know, the individual versus the collective, all about all featuring a specific ice cream, that felt like we've done something, you know.

29:46And now we're talking about doing something new. It's like, well, what is it going to be, you know? because it's not going to be like that. It's going to be something different. Can you explain the Cornetto movement? Explain why it's called the Cornetto movies. Edgar Wright swore blind that a strawberry Cornetto was the ultimate hangover cure. So when they wake up in the morning of the zombie apocalypse, Ed requests one from the shop. And then when we were making Hot Fuzz, actually at the Shaun of the Dead premiere, we had free Cornettos and we were like me and Edgar and Nick were like this is amazing we've got free ice cream this is so cool we should put one in the next film in case we get free ice cream again so then one ended up in Hot Fuzz we very kind of like you know slightly self aggrandizingly referenced ourselves in Hot Fuzz by repeating the line do you want a thing from the shop and then it was like well we've got to put one in the world's end now because that's you know it could be like our three flavors Cornetto trilogy, like in the Christoph Kozlowski kind of, you know, three colors, red, white, and blue.

30:56And then that just became a thing. So by the time we did The World's End, they were advertising it on Cornetto boxes. So that's why it became the Cornetto trilogy. It was sheer, sheer just hoping we could get free ice cream. I have a game that I want to play with you. Go on. I love a game. Okay, it's called Finish That Line. Okay. I'm going to read a line. Yeah. And then you have to finish it. Okay. And it's not just a random line. From any film. From any film. It's a line from your movies. Okay, okay. All right. First one. No luck catching them killers then. It's just the one killer actually.

31:33I'm good with the ones I wrote. I can't tell you how much thrill this is giving me. I'm trying to keep it caged. I am freaking buzzing about this. Okay, here we go. We're in a pub. What are we going to do now? Okay, so that's Shaun of the Dead, and it's something like, I can see if the cooler's on? No, I could see if the, no, it's not, is it have a sit down? No. What do you do in a pub normally? Drink. Have a beer. We get around it. We get around it. That's it. Okay, next one, ready? Are you sure you're fine to drive? What are you talking about? You were just dead. A minute ago, you were dead.

32:14A minute ago, you were dead, yeah. Okay, here we go. Do you have any idea how ridiculous it is? Oh, that could be any of my films. These are actually quite hard. Oh, wait, this is Star Trek. Yes, it is. Yeah. Do you have any idea how ridiculous it is? It is. To hide? To hide a starship under the sea? At the bottom of the sea. Bottom of the sea. Let's freaking go. Here we go. If we don't come down hard on these clowns... We'll be up to our balls in jugglers. Let's go. Oh, man.

32:44Your characters that you create, you say you have to come from your own experiences, right? Yeah, a little bit. That's how you write them. Can you elaborate on it, explain that, why that's important? I think because you have to write from a position of the truth, you know. And if you're writing from experience, then you can be truthful, you know, because you know what you're talking about. With Shaun of the Dead, that was our life at the time, not the zombies, obviously. But there was a pub called The Shepherds on the corner of Shepherd's Hill and Archway Road. It's now called The Boogaloo. It's a very good pub, always has been.

33:18but on before it was the boogaloo and it was like a cool music venue it was a very basic old man's boozer run by john and bernie uh who we named the landlord and lady and sean the dead after and nick and i loved it it was on the corner of our road and we spent all of our time in there and egger used to get so annoyed us because he wanted us to come into town and go to the Groucho Club and stuff. And we were like, no, we, this is our pub. And, and so the Winchester was born from that idea that, you know, Sean and Ed had this one place that they always went and they, we'd done that thing that Ed does in the movie when he, he, he gives everyone a kind of backstory and a nickname.

34:00We did that with all the regulars in the Shepherds before we got to know them. And then we, the reason we called it the Winchester is because there needed to be a, a rifle over the bar so that whole experience of like being ensconced in this one pub and that pub being the answer to all of our problems that was the root of shawn of the dead and that came from the truth hot fuzz was different because i knew nothing about policing and so edgar and i did a lot of research and we went out with the cops in brixton and in the countryside we learned the difference between rural policing and metropolitan policing and so that we could then write from a position of the truth and the world's end was you know i wrote that two years after i got sober so that was all like about that about the pain of being an addict and so when you write from the truth it just feels it feels more authentic i think it also must be like um in a way cathartic Like do journal?

35:01No, but I guess I do with the films. That's what I mean, right? Because it is, it's like you're getting it out there, putting it out there. And so it kind of, it's like that whole, um, going back to how, like as men, we don't really talk, right? I, for many years, just never spoke about anything. Right. Yeah. And in my twenties, I drank just way too much, too much. And, you know, it's one of the things I kind of really regret because there were so many wasted nights, so many wasted days, so many times where I didn't turn up to my mom's 60th. I didn't turn up to Christmas, you know, because I just wanted to go and get drunk.

35:42And it almost makes me emotional how I think about it because I look at that 20 year old kid who was so confused. He was so insecure. He was so not knowing where he was in life. and all I kept turning to was, oh, well, if I, this liquid or whatever that I can drink, oh, this just makes it go away, really. Yeah. So I can just drink that. Yeah. And I didn't realize the slow effect that it was slowly having on me. Because we think, I mean, people always say alcohol is a social lubricant, but the thing that it really is is an emotional anesthetic. And that's why a lot of people drink to excess is because they're just trying to change how they feel without actual medication, you know because going and getting medicated for something whether it's you know depression and anxiety or adhd or whatever it's it's so so much easier to just drink it away yeah because you can do that you don't have to talk to anyone you don't have to admit that you've got any issues you can just go to the pub and drink and that's why it's such a sort of dangerous and i mean now that i'm on the other side of it and i look back at the culture we're so encouraged to to do it you know, it's like, it's a chemical.

36:49It's a, it is a drug, you know, that's what it is, but we don't see it as that because it's so socially acceptable, but we're still using a chemical compound to alter how we feel, which is what all drugs do. And so to be on the other side of that, looking back, it's like bursting out of a forest and looking back and realizing how dark and dangerous it was, you know, what was the moment that you decided to quit alcohol? I was in San Diego and I was promoting the film Paul and I stopped for a while and I fell off the wagon there and then I can't remember like the next four days or so. and I remember coming home to London and actually stopping on the way back from Heathrow to go into a pub just to get a drink, you know.

37:39And I got back and my wife could tell and I thought that I'd blown everything and that, you know, it was over. And I just went out and I got another can of like some awful strong cider and then I woke up in the Priory. And then I realized that I either get straight or I lose everything that matters to me. So after that, that was 2010. And I haven't drunk since. Wow, man. That's like, it's just insane, right? Looking back. And also, which I think is so, the reason why I just really admire you talking about it, right? Because someone in your position talking about that. So many people who look up to you.

38:24including myself right just go wow that's amazing if someone like that can do it someone like that can achieve all those things and and then get that feels and also you realize that you get all these things that are supposed to make you happy so like i was you know i i i was uh i'd been doing well in the film industry you know sean had come out i'd had a baby which was like the most profound wonderful thing that happened to me and yet some for some reason i still wasn't happy and that That made me realize that success is not anything you achieve other than your own personal happiness. If you are happy, whether you're digging ditches or the king of the world, if the ditch digger is happy and the king of the world isn't, the ditch digger is way more successful than the king of the world.

39:19A hundred percent, man. And it's so crazy we don't realize that, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We don't realize it. And we realize all of this is kind of fluff, really. And actually what really matters is, you know, I went to a therapist when all of that was going on. And I think therapy is one of the most amazing things. It is. It's incredible. And if you can afford it or you can get it on the NHS or whatever way of getting it, I just think it improves your life. And I kept talking about different things. And she said to me, she called Mal, she was amazing. She said, Jamie, I just keep you here. You talk about all these different things.

39:48All you've got to do is compare yourself to yourself yesterday or last week or last year. and if you're a better version of yourself now then you're successful and I was like that is an amazing way to sort of think about it right and it's doable you know it's not like an insurmountable task you can do it by increments but you can do it you know can we talk about your friendship with Nick Frost yes I don't know the guy he seems like a legend he is a legend there's a lovely quote which I want to find about where he talks about how much you love each other Yeah. He said, we literally fell in love.

40:26He took a big fucking lump of idiot clay and he gave me the confidence to believe and he noticed there was something within me. Bless him. That's amazing, though. Yeah, I mean, you know, it was one of those strange things. You get into adulthood and you think, I'm not going to, what's the quote from Stand By Me? You know, you don't have friends like you do when you're 12 or whatever. Great movie. But I met him and we just started hanging out and I just got a massive dopamine hit from him. You know, that's what it was. We both got that from each other. And this is long before he, you know, was in space.

41:06This is a good five, six years before he actually started working as an actor. And I was a standup comic at the time. So he'd just come to my gigs with me and we'd hang out and he made me laugh so much. like none of the comics I knew did. And we just sort of cemented this friendship. And really, in the end, writing that role for him in Space, which was based on a character that he'd come up with, was a way of spending more time with him. Is it really? Yeah. It was like, hey, if you come work with me, then we can hang out more. Yeah, what is the best thing about Nick? He's just, Nick is so down to earth.

41:45We came from completely different backgrounds. And he always makes the joke about it. It was like My Fair Lady. You know, I was like Henry Higgins to his Eliza Doolittle. And yes, I kind of like, you know, I showed him all this stuff and films. But he showed me as much about life and about kind of, I don't know. I came out of Bristol University as quite an uptight, politically correct kind of student. And Nick just taught me that, you know, the real political correctness is about intent. It's about, you know, it's okay to make jokes about anything as long as they're not fundamentalized by prejudice.

42:26Do you know what I mean? I read something where you said, you know, horror basically doesn't get the recognition it deserves at like the ceremonies, like the Oscars. And you also said that about comedy, which is so, and when I was reading this, I was like, it's so true. Yeah. It doesn't. It feels like you have to, I don't know, Daniel Day-Lewis has to become some whatever it is. Oh, this is. You have to become something totally different. But comedy, like horror, is a really hard genre. Impeccably hard, right? So why do you think this? Why do you think it's not taken in a way as seriously as other genres?

43:04I think it's exactly that, because it's not serious. It's deemed as not serious. and that hugely underestimates and undervalues the skill it takes to be funny, you know, because it's not serious. It's not serious. That's why. And horror as well, because it's a genre. And often some horror is schlocky horror. So you get horror, which is very gory and silly sometimes. And so that's not deemed awards worthy. But then you get films like Silence of the Lambs, you know, which did very well at the Oscars. And that did win an Oscar. Obsession, I'm sure, will get nodded too, because how could it not? Because it can't be ignored.

43:43And Indy Navarrete's performance is absolutely amazing. They all are good in it. But often it's seen as frivolous and kind of not worthy of accolade because no one's doing a really earnest, dramatic performance. That seems to be the thing that gets most rewarded. When was that moment in your career that you had that was a pivotal turning point, that changed, that made you think differently? I think when we made space for Channel 4 in 1999, I think walking onto the set of that show, having written it with Jessica Hines, and seeing the set and realizing that all these other people had taken our script and extrapolated all the production design and the costumes and all that from it, that felt important.

44:32And, you know, it was like, geez, this is, this came from a silly idea that me and Jess had. And now suddenly it's a real thing. And, and, and, and other people have, have contributed to it and, and made it three-dimensional and real that, that was a profound moment. You know, I felt very kind of humbled by that because it certainly made me realize what a collaboration film and television making is, you know, often as actors, we get all the accolades because we're up front with the cosmetic end of it. but it's such a collaboration. There are so many people involved in making it a thing, and that's something I've always tried to remember.

45:12And when you pick up an award for something, you've been put there by so many different people that have created the thing that you've been given the opportunity to excel in. That's something that I always... So whenever I'm on anything, I'm always incredibly conscious of the fact that we're all in this together. Like I'd never pull one of those kind of like, you know, you hear about some actors just behaving badly. I just couldn't do that. I couldn't sleep at night. No ways, right? No. But why would you be rude? And also you're just having fun. I know. You're getting to do your hobby for a job.

45:52Stop frowning. when you walked into that set in 1999 and you looked around imposter syndrome no because i felt like i'd worked hard to get there you know it's like i've never felt that in my career because i've i've done the the i put in the hours you know and so when i got to be in you know when we did shawn of the dead uh and then and then latterly because of that film I wound up in some of those big sort of Hollywood movies, I felt like, no, I didn't jump here. I scaled here, you know. And so it was a bit weird on the first Mission Impossible because that was strange. Just give me a little bit.

46:36How long is that? It must be pretty weird. When you turn on the set and you're like, hey, everyone. Yeah. I guess we're shooting Mission Impossible. It was crazy because it was the first time I'd been to Hollywood and we were shooting on the Paramount lot and obviously it was a massive production like I'd never seen before. And I just felt a little bit like, okay, this is going to be like a kind of bit of stunt casting. J.J. Abrams like Shaun of the Dead. And so here I am. And I'll do my day or two on this and I'll go home and, you know, have a little badge or something. And then... Like Blue Peter.

47:13I met Tom Cruise badge. Just put it on your little... Yeah, yeah. And then, you know, and then a couple of years later he called me about Star Trek and then we found out you know the character was going to persist in the mission franchise but it all felt fairly sequential and never like I'd won a competition you know that's amazing which was I think that's a good way but also I also tried to remember that it was it wasn't a competition and it wasn't something that you get from you know making a wish this is just work it is just work and it's progression yeah and and it is it's it's funny right when you do put in that hard work and you put in the hours and suddenly you you reap the rewards you're like oh no yeah and you have to you have to the way that you deal with it is very important as well i always say when i get asked i get asked by a lot of young people about what's your advice and i always say just chase everything you know don't don't think that it's going to fall into your lap don't think even if you're like supremely talented it's not just going to happen for you you have to chase everything and and be proactive and get out there and make stuff and and get seen you know so that is the best piece of advice anyone who's listening or watching this 100 and i think we forget i think people think because i thought it for a while right someone's going to open a door and say come on in yeah there you go we're all in here we've been waiting for you yeah that never happens no you have to work and no one cares that you think you're good.

48:43No, absolutely not. No one cares that you think you're talented. No one cares. You have to prove to people that you can create stuff, do stuff, make stuff happen, right? Because everyone's slightly, in a way, we're all out for ourselves. We're all doing our own thing. So you have to show that you can collaborate or help or assist or do something. And not feel entitled to it, you know. A hundred percent. When you get a big Hollywood movie like that and this is a while ago, what happened? Does your agent call you? Who calls you? JJ called me. JJ phoned you. gets your number i was in yeah and that's very him he's sort of like he he doesn't like to go through the kind of traditional route of like calling agents and that kind of stuff i was writing hot fuzz with edgar and the phone rang uh and it's your mobile no it was just the office phone i was working at big talk where our production company at the time and jj abrams is on the phone and sort of okay and uh do you prep yourself you're like okay here we go yeah i I was like, I kind of vaguely knew him from Alias.

49:38And then he just sort of said, he just said, hey, Simon, do you want to come and be in Mission Impossible 3? And I'd literally, I'd auditioned for Mission Impossible 3 like a month before. This was a different production. Joe Carnahan was directing. It went into a development. They went as far as casting it and then they ditched the whole thing. JJ took over and they came up with a whole new thing. So I'd said in an interview, oh, I'm not, you know, someone said, are you going to go off to Hollywood now? like you know like it's a betrayal yeah and i said well no i'm not going to go off and just do mission impossible three like because i thought i wasn't and then i suddenly was and that was it and then jj like sent me the whole first season of lost on on dvds and to to to sort of demonstrate what he was about and and i was like sure why not and i had no idea the kind of life decision i was making at the time because it's huge right yeah and that franchise It's just, you know, like you said, it's 20 years.

50:36It was, but then there'd only been two at that point. You know, there'd only been Mission Impossible 1 and 2. Mission 2 had done very well, but it was an odd film because it was John Woo and John Woo is a fantastic filmmaker, but there was an odd disconnect between the kind of Hong Kong cinema and the Hollywood model. So Mission 2 is one of those kind of Marmite films for a lot of people. So 3 was a bit of a gamble and... And JJ had done mainly television, so I had no idea what was going to happen. I certainly didn't realize I'd be in it for 20 years. It's a long time. It is a long time. It's a long time.

51:14It felt longer on the last two. It felt longer than 20 years. I love that story of when Tom Cruise did that stunt and he broke his ankle. He just gets up and keeps going. And you're just a bit like, what the? Well, that's him being a producer. you know because he obviously produces the movies and he knew if the if if if he just bailed out of that shot it would cost the production a huge amount of money and we'd have to go back and reshoot it so he just hobbled out of shot and then nine weeks later when he was better he kind of hobbled but into the next shot and then ran off again so yeah that's that's that's just however long he's had in the business um do you do your own stunts yeah it's kind of the rule is it really?

52:01the stunts are real that's the kind of mantra on this and really it's about the fact that you want to maintain the character throughout the stunt so it never comes it's never just about the stunt you can carry on acting whilst you're stunting when you were a kid and you grew up just outside of Gloucestershire and your dad owned a music shop do you look back at your childhood and the things you're doing and the things you created and all the dreams that you had and just think, man, I freaking did it. It's crazy. So much of my career has been about finding myself part of a thing that I've enjoyed as a kid.

52:42So like whether that's Star Wars or Star Trek or even Mission Impossible, I used to watch that show, or Doctor Who or working with Rick and Aid because they were like the young ones were, I was 12 when the young ones came out and that was a seismic event in comedy. or or even like you know me and nick went to the big beach boutique in 2002 the big free party that you know 250 000 people turned up to and and then this weekend i just dj'd at it so it's like that those circularities are great they're really they're really satisfying yeah because it's you know the fact that like you speak about how much of a star wars fan you are and then I heard that you have Luke Skywalker's number.

53:27We DM each other occasionally. That must be. Yeah, it's nuts. It's nuts. It's totally nuts. When I think about how much I idolized those people as a child and now, you know, breathing the same air as them, it does feel like a sort of achievement in a way. Truthfully, right, if you had to really think, what is the thing that you're most proud of? My daughter, without a doubt. She's such a good actor. she's gonna follow me into the business I know it because I went to see her in her um they did Les Mis as their school play and she played Thanardier the master of the house that's a great show-stopping number and uh I watched it and I and I sort of sat there thinking okay oh dear here we go yeah it was like it was a real revelation and I was almost like a little bit perplexed by it because, and then in the interval, people were coming up to me as they usually do, but they weren't asking for pictures with me.

54:26They were telling me how good she was. And I was like, oh, fine. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure. Okay, great. She's all right. All right. She's all right. But no, I'm proud of her because of the person she is. And, you know, it is an extraordinary thing to, as you know, you know, to have a life that you've had some part in creating. and it's a love that you can't even begin to quantify. You know, I have this whole thing at the moment that sounds so weird, but I'm so upset but happy. I'm happy but upset because my baby won't know how much I love him until he has children, if he has children. Right, right.

55:09Because you can't comprehend. So I want to climb inside him and speak to his heart, but I can't get to his heart. Yeah. It's that kind of love. But then you spend your entire time while he's at home trying to convince him. You know, that's all you have to do. I love you. Yeah, yeah.

55:29Monday.com AI agents took over my work. And I absolutely love it. Chasing deadlines, writing status reports, updating stakeholders. Agents handle the daily grind now. I stay in the loop only when it matters. Create your own AI agent in minutes on Monday.com. Still waiting in line? Again?

56:16You've got a new series coming up. The Undeclared War on Channel 4. It's the second series. Yeah, the first episode aired on Channel 4. And I think it's all, they've, you can binge it like they do sometimes now. They've dropped the whole six episodes onto all four. What is different when you're creating something like this to doing something in Hollywood? TV, generally TV, you work faster. And the, you know, the setup time is less. you're having to get a lot of stuff shot in a short space of time. And I like that. I hate sitting in my trailer doing nothing. That's the worst is when you're at work, but you're not working.

56:57That's just so dull for me. So TV is hard and fast. It's run and gun. And it's also like Channel 4 is kind of my spiritual home. That's where I started with Spaced. And to be back there doing this show, which is a completely different kind of animal for me because it's, A, it's a drama and it's much more grounded in reality. You know, it's not my first spy show by any means, but there's no one tearing off masks and jumping off cliffs on motorbikes in this. You know, it's kind of about the real war that we're fighting at the moment on the front line, which is the internet. And that's terrifying because it's happening around us right now, you know.

57:39so listen i just want to say a huge thank you oh man it's been such a pleasure you you trust me it's been a complete pleasure for me it's been absolutely incredible we have eight quick fire questions but before that i just want to ask one more thing what kind of roles would you still like to play if you could choose anything just sort of diverse roles you know i kind of want to try and flex every muscle that i've got and which is why recently i've been doing a lot of sort of drama and I did an improvised film last year, which was really, really fun because it was six days shooting. Totally improvised.

58:11Totally improvised. Jamie Adams, who's the director, who's a great Welsh filmmaker, his method is to come up with a kind of outline. So each scene, you kind of have a description of what needs to happen and you know the story, but all of the dialogue is improvised. and I'd just come off making two films which had taken five years and then this film came in it was like six days in France as it turns out with with Sophia Boutella who I worked with before I love and Quentin Tarantino and Charlotte Gainsborough and Lizzie McAlpine get out of here yeah for six days just making it up and it was so so fun sorry there must be a starting point though yeah A little starting point?

58:56Oh, yeah. We know the story. Here we go. But just go. Yeah. It's like, okay, so in this scene, you're trying to convince her that this is the case and she's trying to convince you that that's the case. And Jamie's very like, he'll give an actor notes but not tell the other actor that those notes have been given so that the actor brings something new to the scene. And so you're finding the whole story as you go. And it was just an absolute delight. So stuff like that, which challenges me. I did an improv night. I love it. How good an improv are you? Pretty good. Okay, well, shall I set a scene?

59:30Listen, this is the scene. Okay. We're dating. Yeah. You're meeting me in a pub. And you're here to break up with me. But I think you're going to propose to me. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Hey, listen, thanks for coming. It's all right. How have you been? I've been all right. I've been thinking quite a lot. Yeah, you felt like you've been quiet over the past few days. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I've just been sort of taking stock of everything. Okay. I'm just so excited for our future. Well, that's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about in a way. I know. I feel like we've kind of reached a point in our relationship, you know?

1:00:12I feel the same way, where we want to go more. I would say not that. I feel like we might have played it all out. And I feel like what we need to do next is find ourselves, but separately. I don't understand what you're saying. Why can't we find ourselves together? Well, we did. We have found ourselves together. I don't think that worked. It does work. For it to work, I think it would have to work for both of us. And right now, just at this moment in time, I'm feeling like it's not working for me, Jamie. Are you saying you don't love me? I'm not saying I don't love you. I'm saying that I'm not seeing a future for us together.

1:00:56That doesn't mean that I don't love you because I do, but I feel like it would be better for us if we separated. But I'm confused. You love me, but you don't want to be with me? Yeah.

1:01:14Matt, Simon, honestly, buddy, thank you for everything. Thank you for everything you do for film, for people, for just making, you make people happy. Oh, thank you. And I think that's the greatest gift that you can give to this world, to be honest. You're very kind. Thank you. I have eight quick fire questions. You ready for this? Shoot. What's a saying or phrase that makes you smile or cheers you up? Me and Talisha, we have this thing where we've run into the living room and shout tinfoil. Don't ask me why, but it always makes us laugh. Best compliment anyone's ever given you? um that something that i've done has altered someone in a good way you know what scares you most about yourself my anger when was the last time you cried when was the last time i cried i'm not a crier you don't cry i don't i'm not that easily i have to real dig it out sometimes what makes you cry if you watch it uh anything with dads and sons like in a movie like that's will get me going.

1:02:16Have you seen something ordinary? James Norton? No, I like James Norton a lot. So there's one thing, watch this with Tilly. James Norton movie, he plays an Irish window cleaner. It's called Nowhere Special. Nowhere Special. I think I've heard of that. It is. He plays an Irish window cleaner and he has to look after his son for a weekend. Oh, yeah. It is. Oh, God, no. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's just blub country. Oh, get ready for that. Why is it anything that father has made you? Yeah, particularly. And I also lost my dad a couple of years ago, so that is going to be particularly... In fact, that might have been the last time I really cried.

1:02:57Really? Yeah. What's something you can't let go of? Probably Star Wars. I mean, I have let go of it. You know, for me, it was such a pivotal thing in my childhood. It changed everything for me. obviously it's been recycled and and there's so much of it now and lots of it i haven't seen but sometimes i'll i'll just go and watch something and maybe it's not for me and i was thinking oh um but i i don't know i guess i guess it was just such a again a massive part of my childhood um but it's not what it used to be star wars it's different now and it and as it should be is should be different. It's not for me.

1:03:42Do you have a lightsaber? I used to. I had a bunch of them. Wow. And then I realized I was 40. What's your guilty pleasure? My guilty pleasure? Probably chocolate. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dark? No, milk. Milk, straight up. Yeah, straight up milk chocolate. With a tea? Oh, yeah. I like to put a cube and then drink the tea and then melt it. keep it in the fridge in this time of year yes absolutely do you keep butter in the fridge no out of the fridge out of the fridge because it's such a bugger to spread but in this weather like the last couple of weeks it's just been like water it's like just pouring it onto your bread whatever I don't think there's anything better than bread and butter oh I love it it's unbelievable dairy's my sweet spot what do you like most about yourself come on dig deep I'm learning to like myself more as I've got older, I think.

1:04:41I like that I can make people laugh. You know, it's a nice thing to be able to do. And I find it, I always say, you know, looks fade, but funny is forever. Bonus, what song would you like to be played at your funeral? Oh, Marianne by the Sisters of Mercy. Carried out? It's a dirge, yeah, absolutely. Not in flames? No, I think probably, I wouldn't go for something from my goth times. I would go for something really happy. Like Jackie Wilson, higher and higher, something like that. That is it. That's a good one to go. That's a great one. My granny went to Everything's Coming Up Roses by Ethel Merman.

1:05:15It was so funny because it had been quite an emotional ceremony and it was like, everything's coming up roses. We were all laughing on ourselves. Simon Pegg, you've been unbelievable company. Everyone go and watch The Undeclare War and Channel 4. You are the greatest. Thank you so much. Thank you, mate. I really appreciate it. Thank you, Jamie. Oh, man. Buddy.

1:05:36Do I want to die, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Monday AI agents took over my work. And I absolutely love it. Chasing deadlines, writing status reports, updating stakeholders. Agents handle the daily grind now. They live inside Monday.com. So they see the full picture. My work, my team, the whole company. And I don't have to worry about the data. It's safe. which means I'm free to focus on the big stuff, knowing everything runs smoothly in the background. It's completely shifted the way we work. Create your own AI agent in minutes on Monday.com.

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